Japan | Japanese brewer Asahi reported a 45 percent decline in first quarter 2020 operating profit, as the covid-19 pandemic forced bars and restaurants in its major markets to shut, hurting its sales.

Australia | The Foreign Investment Review Board, on 7 May 2020, gave its final approval to Asahi’s AUD 16 billion (USD 10.5 billion) bid for Carlton & United (CUB).

Australia | Major brewers Lion and CUB each announced in April 2020 that they are donating resealable bottles to pubs across the country to assist pubs in selling draught beer in a takeaway format.

Australia | Pubs and bars could be shut far longer than in the rest of the world. As social distancing remains a key measure in the battle against covid-19, some health experts have called for pubs and bars to be the last to reopen.

Australia | What has taken the competition authority ACCC so long? More than eight months after the deal’s announcement, the ACCC gave Asahi the go-ahead to take over the country’s leading brewer CUB from AB-InBev.

Australia | Observers have been baffled by the whole process of getting Asahi’s takeover of Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) okayed by the authorities. The USD 11.3 billion deal with AB-InBev was announced in July 2019 and only in April 2020 did the competition watchdog relent.

Australia | The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) is not happy with the approval of Asahi buying Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), as it will lead to further restriction in consumer choice in the on-premise.

Australia | With the 2020 harvest underway, it came as a relief to 2500 wine businesses and 6000 grape growers that their industry has been classed as an essential service during the covid-19 pandemic.

Australia | What is taking the regulator so long to vet Asahi’s purchase of CUB? In an effort to speed things up, Asahi has now proposed to ditch some brands.

Australia | Melbourne-based hospitality entrepreneurs Brad Harris and James Sinclair have acquired the All Hands Brewing House in Darling Harbour for AUD 20 million (USD 13 million), media reported on 18 February 2020.